Monument record TQ 77 NW 1368 - ?Medieval saltern mounds, Cliffe

The earthwork remains of two conjoined irregular mounds measuring approximately 25m x 38m and 26m x 19m seen at TQ 7310 7773. These are thought to be medieval saltern mounds, a number of which have identified in Cliffe Marshes. These mounds are the result of large-scale salt manufacturing where brine was extracted from salt-rich sands and sediments, concentrated and evaporated using process known as sleeching. The discarded waste material from the process built up around the production area into a sizeable mound, often with a hollow in the centred where a hut stood. These medieval saltern mounds are typically described as `floriate' in form because of their irregular lobed formation of dumped waste. They often occur in clusters around former and surviving tidal water-courses within the marsh. There has been considerable reclamation and subsequent sea wall construction since the medieval period which has isolated these sites from the sea.

Many of these mounds were subsequently utilised as sheepfolds, sheep washes and stock refuges in the post medieval period because of their slightly elevated position in the readily flooded marshes.

This site was mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (1-2)

<1> RAF, 1953, NMR RAF/82/713/0456 06-FEB-1953 (Photograph). SKE58846.

<2> Spurrell, F. C. J., 1885, Early sites and embankments on the margins of the Thames estuary. (Article in serial). SWX7560.